In this chapter we have Naomi's afflictions. I. As
a distressed housekeeper, forced by famine to remove into the land
of Moab, ver. 1, 2. II. As
a mournful widow and mother, bewailing the death of her husband and
her two sons, ver. 3-5.
III. As a careful mother-in-law, desirous to be kind to her two
daughters, but at a loss how to be so when she returns to her own
country, ver. 6-13. Orpah
she parts with in sorrow, ver.
14. Ruth she takes with her in fear, ver. 15-18. IV. As a poor woman sent back
to the place of her first settlement, to be supported by the
kindness of her friends, ver.
19-22. All these things were melancholy and seemed
against her, and yet all were working for good.

Elimelech and Naomi; Death of Elimelech and
His Sons. (b. c. 1312.)

St-Takla.org Image:
A map for the land of Canaan and Moab (Ruth 1:1-2)

1 Now it came to pass in the days when the
judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain
man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he,
and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man
was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name
of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of
Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and
continued there. 3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and
she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them wives
of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the
name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the
woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

The first words give all the date we have
of this story. It was in the days when the judges ruled
(v. 1), not in those
disorderly times when there was no king in Israel; but under
which of the judges these things happened we are not told, and the
conjectures of the learned are very uncertain. It must have been
towards the beginning of the judges' time, for Boaz, who married
Ruth, was born of Rahab, who received the spies in Joshua's time.
Some think it was in the days of Ehud, others of Deborah; the
learned bishop Patrick inclines to think it was in the days of
Gideon, because in his days only we read of a famine by the
Midianites' invasion, Judges vi. 3,
4. While the judges were ruling, some one city and some
another, Providence takes particular cognizance of Bethlehem, and
has an eye to a King, to Messiah himself, who should descend from
two Gentile mothers, Rahab and Ruth. Here is,

I. A famine in the land, in the land of
Canaan, that land flowing with milk and honey. This was one
of the judgments which God had threatened to bring upon them for
their sins, Lev. xxvi. 19,
20. He has many arrows in his quiver. In the days of the
judges they were oppressed by their enemies; and, when by that
judgment they were not reformed, God tried this, for when he
judges he will overcome. When the land had rest, yet it had
not plenty; even in Bethlehem, which signifies the house of
bread, there was scarcity. A fruitful land is turned into
barrenness, to correct and restrain the luxury and wantonness
of those that dwell therein.

II. An account of one particular family
distressed in the famine; it is that of Elimelech. His name
signifies my God a king, agreeable to the state of Israel
when the judges ruled, for the Lord was their King, and comfortable
to him and his family in their affliction, that God was theirs and
that he reigns for ever. His wife was Naomi, which signifies
my amiable or pleasant one. But his sons' names were
Mahlon and Chilion, sickness and consumption,
perhaps because weakly children, and not likely to be long-lived.
Such are the productions of our pleasant things, weak and infirm,
fading and dying.

St-Takla.org Image:
Ruth clings to Naomi, and Orpah is seen ready to leave - by Philip H. Calderon
(Ruth 1:16)

III. The removal of this family from
Bethlehem into the country of Moab on the other side Jordan, for
subsistence, because of the famine, v. 1, 2. It seems there was plenty in
the country of Moab when there was scarcity of bread in the land of
Israel. Common gifts of providence are often bestowed in greater
plenty upon those that are strangers to God than upon those that
know and worship him. Moab is at ease from his youth, while
Israel is emptied from vessel to vessel (Jer. xlviii. 11), not because God loves
Moabites better, but because they have their portion in this
life. Thither Elimelech goes, not to settle for ever, but to
sojourn for a time, during the dearth, as Abraham, on a similar
occasion, went into Egypt, and Isaac into the land of the
Philistines. Now here, 1. Elimelech's care to provide for his
family, and his taking his wife and children with him, were without
doubt commendable. If any provide not for his own, he hath
denied the faith, 1 Tim. v.
8. When he was in his straits he did not forsake his
house, go seek his fortune himself, and leave his wife and children
to shift for their own maintenance; but, as became a tender husband
and a loving father, where he went he took them with him, not as
the ostrich, Job xxxix.
16. But, 2. I see not how his removal into the country
of Moab, upon this occasion, could be justified. Abraham and Isaac
were only sojourners in Canaan, and it was agreeable to their
condition to remove; but the seed of Israel were now fixed, and
ought not to remove into the territories of the heathen. What
reason had Elimelech to go more than any of his neighbours? If by
any ill husbandry he had wasted his patrimony, and sold his land or
mortgaged it (as it should seem, ch. iv. 3, 4), which brought him in to
a more necessitous condition than others, the law of God would have
obliged his neighbours to relieve him (Lev. xxv. 35); but that was not his case, for
he went out full, v.
21. By those who tarried at home it appears that the
famine was not so extreme but that there was sufficient to keep
life and soul together; and his charge was but small, only two
sons. But if he could not be content with the short allowance that
his neighbours took up with, and in the day of famine could not
be satisfied unless he kept as plentiful a table as he had done
formerly, if he could not live in hope that there would come years
of plenty again in due time, or could not with patience wait for
those years, it was his fault, and he did by it dishonour God and
the good land he had given them, weaken the hands of his
brethren, with whom he should have been willing to take his
lot, and set an ill example to others. If all should do as he did
Canaan would be dispeopled. Note, It is an evidence of a
discontented, distrustful, unstable spirit, to be weary of the
place in which God hath set us, and to be for leaving it
immediately whenever we meet with any uneasiness or inconvenience
in it. It is folly to think of escaping that cross which, being
laid in our way, we ought to take up. It is our wisdom to make the
best of that which is, for it is seldom that changing our place is
mending it. Or, if he would remove, why to the country of Moab? If
he had made enquiry, it is probable he would have found plenty in
some of the tribes of Israel, those, for instance, on the other
side Jordan, that bordered on the land of Moab; if he had had that
zeal for God and his worship, and that affection for his brethren
which became an Israelite, he would not have persuaded himself so
easily to go and sojourn among Moabites.

IV. The marriage of his two sons to two of
the daughters of Moab after his death, v. 4. All agree that this was ill done.
The Chaldee says, They transgressed the decree of the word of
the Lord in taking strange wives. If they would not stay
unmarried till their return to the land of Israel, they were not so
far off but that they might have fetched themselves wives thence.
Little did Elimelech think, when he went to sojourn in Moab, that
ever his sons would thus join in affinity with Moabites. But those
that bring young people into bad acquaintance, and take them out of
the way of public ordinances, though they may think them
well-principled and armed against temptation, know not what they
do, nor what will be the end thereof. It does not appear
that the women they married were proselyted to the Jewish religion,
for Orpah is said to return to her gods (v. 15); the gods of Moab were hers
still. It is a groundless tradition of the Jews that Ruth was the
daughter of Eglon king of Moab, yet the Chaldee paraphrast inserts
it; but this and their other tradition, which he inserts likewise,
cannot agree, that Boaz who married Ruth was the same with Ibzan,
who judged Israel 200 years after Eglon's death, Judg. xii.

V. The death of Elimelech and his two sons,
and the disconsolate condition Naomi was thereby reduced to. Her
husband died (v. 3)
and her two sons (v.
5) soon after their marriage, and the Chaldee says,
Their days were shortened, because they transgressed the law
in marrying strange wives. See here, 1. That wherever we go we
cannot out-run death, whose fatal arrows fly in all places. 2. That
we cannot expect to prosper when we go out of the way of our duty.
He that will save his life by any indirect course shall
lose it. 3. That death, when it comes into a family, often
makes breach upon breach. One is taken away to prepare another to
follow soon after; one is taken away, and that affliction is not
duly improved, and therefore God sends another of the same kind.
When Naomi had lost her husband she took so much the more
complacency and put so much the more confidence in her sons. Under
the shadow of these surviving comforts she thinks she shall live
among the heathen, and exceedingly glad she was of these gourds;
but behold they wither presently, green and growing up in the
morning, cut down and dried up before night, buried soon after
they were married, for neither of them left any children, and you can find
more about that here on
st-takla.org on other commentaries and
dictionary entries. So
uncertain and transient are all our enjoyments here. It is
therefore our wisdom to make sure of those comforts that will be
made sure and of which death cannot rob us. But how desolate was
the condition, and how disconsolate the spirit, of poor Naomi, when
the woman was left of her two sons and her husband! When
these two things, loss of children and widowhood, come upon her
in a moment, come upon her in their perfection, by whom
shall she be comforted? Isa.
xlvii. 9; li. 19. It is God alone who has wherewithal to
comfort those who are thus cast down.

6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that
she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the
country of Moab how that the Lord
had visited his people in giving them bread. 7 Wherefore she
went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in
law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of
Judah. 8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go,
return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with
the dead, and with me. 9 The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of
you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they
lifted up their voice, and wept. 10 And they said unto her,
Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. 11 And
Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me?
are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may
be your husbands? 12 Turn again, my daughters, go your
way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I
have hope, if I should have a husband also to night, and
should also bear sons; 13 Would ye tarry for them till they
were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my
daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of
the Lord is gone out against me.
14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah
kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And
she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people,
and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. 16
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return
from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and
where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die,
and there will I be buried: the Lord
do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and
me. 18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go
with her, then she left speaking unto her.

See here, I. The good affection Naomi bore
to the land of Israel, v.
6. Though she could not stay in it while the famine
lasted, she would not stay out of it when the famine ceased. Though
the country of Moab had afforded her shelter and supply in a time
of need, yet she did not intend it should be her rest for ever; no
land should be that but the holy land, in which the sanctuary of
God was, of which he had said, This is my rest for ever.
Observe,

1. God, at last, returned in mercy to his
people; for, though he contend long, he will not contend always. As
the judgment of oppression, under which they often groaned in the
time of the judges, still came to an end, after a while, when God
had raised them up a deliverer, so here the judgment of famine: At
length God graciously visited his people in giving them
bread. Plenty is God's gift, and it is his visitation which by
bread, the staff of life, holds our souls in life. Though
this mercy be the more striking when it comes after famine, yet if
we have constantly enjoyed it, and never knew what famine meant, we
are not to think it the less valuable.

2. Naomi then returned, in duty to her
people. She had often enquired of their state, what harvests they
had and how the markets went, and still the tidings were
discouraging; but like the prophet's servant, who, having looked
seven times and seen no sign of rain, at length discerned a cloud
no bigger than a man's hand, which soon overspread the heavens, so
Naomi at last has good news brought her of plenty in Bethlehem, and
then she can think of no other than returning thither again. Her
new alliances in the country of Moab could not make her forget her
relation to the land of Israel. Note, Though there be a reason for
our being in bad places, yet, when the reason ceases, we must by no
means continue in them. Forced absence from God's ordinances, and
forced presence with wicked people, are great afflictions; but when
the force ceases, and such a situation is continued of choice, then
it becomes a great sin. It should seem she began to think of
returning immediately upon the death of her two sons, (1.) Because
she looked upon that affliction to be a judgment upon her family
for lingering in the country of Moab; and hearing this to be the
voice of the rod, and of him that appointed it, she obeys
and returns. Had she returned upon the death of her husband,
perhaps she might have saved the life of her sons; but, when God
judgeth he will overcome, and, if one affliction prevail not to
awaken us to a sight and sense of sin and duty, another shall. When
death comes into a family it ought to be improved for the reforming
of what is amiss in the family: when relations are taken away from
us we are put upon enquiry whether, in some instance or other, we
are not out of the way of our duty, that we may return to it. God
calls our sins to remembrance, when he slays a son,
1 Kings xvii. 18. And, if
he thus hedge up our way with thorns, it is that he may oblige us
to say, We will go and return to our first husband, as Naomi
here to her country, Hos. ii.
7. (2.) Because the land of Moab had now become a
melancholy place to her. It is with little pleasure that she can
breathe in that air in which her husband and sons had expired, or
go on that ground in which they lay buried out of her sight, but
not out of her thoughts; now she will go to Canaan again. Thus God
takes away from us the comforts we stay ourselves too much upon and
solace ourselves too much in, here in the land of our sojourning,
that we may think more of our home in the other world, and by faith
and hope may hasten towards it. Earth is embittered to us, that
heaven may be endeared.

St-Takla.org Image:
Naomi the mother-in-law, Ruth and Orpah her daughters-in-law in the way back
(Ruth 1:7)

II. The good affection which her
daughters-in-law, and one of them especially, bore to her, and her
generous return of their good affection.

1. They were both so kind as to accompany
her, some part of the way at least, when she returned towards the
land of Judah. Her two daughters-in-law did not go about to
persuade her to continue in the land of Moab, but, if she was
resolved to go home, would pay her all possible civility and
respect at parting; and this was one instance of it: they would
bring her on her way, at least to the utmost limits of their
country, and help her to carry her luggage as far as they went, for
it does not appear that she had any servant to attend her,
v. 7. By this we see
both that Naomi, as became an Israelite, had been very kind and
obliging to them and had won their love, in which she is an example
to all mothers-in-law, and that Orpah and Ruth had a just sense of
her kindness, for they were willing to return it thus far. It was a
sign they had dwelt together in unity, though those were
dead by whom the relation between them came. Though they retained
an affection for the gods of Moab (v. 15), and Naomi was still faithful to
the God of Israel, yet that was no hindrance to either side from
love and kindness, and all the good offices that the relation
required. Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are too often at
variance (Matt. x. 35), and
therefore it is the more commendable if they live in love; let all
who sustain this relation aim at the praise of doing so.

2. When they had gone a little way with her
Naomi, with a great deal of affection, urged them to go back
(v. 8, 9): Return
each to her mother's house. When they were dislodged by a sad
providence from the house of their husbands it was a mercy to them
that they had their parents yet living, that they had their houses
to go to, where they might be welcome and easy, and were not turned
out to the wide world. Naomi suggests that their own mothers would
be more agreeable to them than a mother-in-law, especially when
their own mothers had houses and their mother-in-law was not sure
she had a place to lay her head in which she could call her own.
She dismisses them,

St-Takla.org Image:
Naomi suggests that they turn back to
their original homes (Ruth 1:8-13)

(1.) With commendation. This is a debt
owing to those who have conducted themselves well in any relation,
they ought to have the praise of it: You have dealt kindly with
the dead and with me, that is, "You were good wives to your
husbands that are gone, and have been good daughters to me, and not
wanting to your duty in either relation." Note, When we and our
relations are parting, by death or otherwise, it is very
comfortable if we have both their testimony and the testimony of
our own consciences for us that while we were together we carefully
endeavoured to do our duty in the relation. This will help to allay
the bitterness of parting; and, while we are together, we should
labour so to conduct ourselves as that when we part we may not have
cause to reflect with regret upon our miscarriages in the
relation.

(2.) With prayer. It is very proper for
friends, when they part, to part with prayer. She sends them home
with her blessing; and the blessing of a mother-in-law is not to be
slighted. In this blessing she twice mentions the name
Jehovah, Israel's God, and the only true God, that she might
direct her daughters to look up to him as the only fountain of all
good. To him she prays in general that he would recompense to them
the kindness they had shown to her and hers. It may be expected and
prayed for in faith that God will deal kindly with those that have
dealt kindly with their relations. He that watereth shall be
watered also himself. And, in particular, that they might be
happy in marrying again: The Lord grant that you may find rest,
each of you in the house of her husband. Note, [1.] It is very
fit that, according to the apostle's direction (1 Tim. v. 14), the younger women, and he
speaks there of young widows, should marry, bear children,
and guide the house. And it is a pity that those who have
approved themselves good wives should not again be blessed with
good husbands, especially those that, like these widows, have no
children. [2.] The married state is a state of rest, such rest as
this world affords, rest in the house of a husband, more than can
be expected in the house of a mother or a mother-in-law. [3.] This
rest is God's gift. If any content and satisfaction be found in our
outward condition, God must be acknowledged in it. There are those
that are unequally yoked, that find little rest even in the house
of a husband. Their affliction ought to make those the more
thankful to whom the relation is comfortable. Yet let God be the
rest of the soul, and no perfect rest thought of on this side
heaven.

(3.) She dismissed them with great
affection: She kissed them, wished she had somewhat better
to give them, but silver and gold she had none. However, this
parting kiss shall be the seal of such a true friendship as (though
she never see them more) she will, while she lives, retain the
pleasing remembrance of. If relations must part, let them thus part
in love, that they may (if they never meet again in this world)
meet in the world of everlasting love.

3. The two young widows could not think of
parting with their good mother-in-law, so much had the good
conversation of that pious Israelite won upon them. They not only
lifted up their voice and wept, as loth to part, but they professed
a resolution to adhere to her (v. 10): "Surely we will return with
thee unto thy people, and take our lot with thee." It is a rare
instance of affection to a mother-in-law and an evidence that they
had, for her sake, conceived a good opinion of the people of
Israel. Even Orpah, who afterwards went back to her gods, now
seemed resolved to go forward with Naomi. The sad ceremony of
parting, and the tears shed on that occasion, drew from her this
protestation, but it did not hold. Strong passions, without a
settled judgment, commonly produce weak resolutions.

4. Naomi sets herself to dissuade them from
going along with her, v.
11-13.

(1.) Naomi urges her afflicted condition.
If she had had any sons in Canaan, or any near kinsmen, whom she
could have expected to marry the widows, to raise up seed to
those that were gone, and to redeem the mortgaged estate of the
family, it might have been some encouragement to them to hope for a
comfortable settlement at Bethlehem. But she had no sons, nor could
she think of any near kinsman likely to do the kinsman's part, and
therefore argues that she was never likely to have any sons to be
husbands for them, for she was too old to have a husband; it became
her age to think of dying and going out of the world, not of
marrying and beginning the world again. Or, if she had a husband,
she could not expect to have children, nor, if she had sons, could
she think that these young widows would stay unmarried till her
sons that should yet be born would grow up to be marriageable. Yet
this was not all: she could not only not propose to herself to
marry them like themselves, but she knew not how to maintain them
like themselves. The greatest grievance of that poor condition to
which she was reduced was that she was not in a capacity to do for
them as she would: It grieveth me more for your sakes
than for my own that the hand of the Lord has gone out against
me. Observe, [1.] She judges herself chiefly aimed at in the
affliction, that God's quarrel was principally with her: "The
hand of the Lord has gone out against me. I am the sinner; it
is with me that God has a controversy; it is with me that he is
contending; I take it to myself." This well becomes us when we are
under affliction; though many others share in the trouble, yet we
must hear the voice of the rod as if it spoke only against us and
to us, not billeting the rebukes of it at other people's houses,
but taking them to ourselves. [2.] She laments most the trouble
that redounded to them from it. She was the sinner, but they were
the sufferers: It grieveth me much for your sakes. A
gracious generous spirit can better bear its own burden than it can
bear to see it a grievance to others, or others in any way drawn
into trouble by it. Naomi could more easily want herself than see
her daughters want. "Therefore turn again, my daughters,
for, alas! I am in no capacity to do you any kindness." But,

(2.) Did Naomi do well thus to discourage
her daughters from going with her, when, by taking them with her,
she might save them from the idolatry of Moab and bring them to the
faith and worship of the God of Israel? Naomi, no doubt, desired to
do so. But, [1.] If they did come with her, she would not have them
to come upon her account. Those that take upon them a profession of
religion only in complaisance to their relations, to oblige their
friends, or for the sake of company, will be converts of small
value and of short continuance. [2.] If they did come with her, she
would have them to make it their deliberate choice, and to sit down
first and count the cost, as it concerns those to do that may take
up a profession of religion. It is good for us to be told the
worst. Our Saviour took this course with him who, in the heat of
zeal, spoke that bold word, Master, I will follow thee
whithersoever thou goest. "Come, come," says Christ, "canst
thou fare as I fare? The Son of man has not where to lay his
head; know this, and then consider whether thou canst find in
thy heart to take thy lot with him," Matt. viii. 19, 20. Thus Naomi deals with
her daughters-in-law. Thoughts ripened into resolves by serious
consideration are likely to be kept always in the imagination of
the heart, whereas what is soon ripe is soon rotten.

5. Orpah was easily persuaded to yield to
her own corrupt inclination, and to go back to her country, her
kindred, and her father's house, now when she stood fair for an
effectual call from it. They both lifted up their voice and wept
again (v. 14),
being much affected with the tender things that Naomi had said. But
it had a different effect upon them: to Orpah it was a savour of
death unto death; the representation Naomi had made of the
inconveniences they must count upon if they went forward to Canaan
sent her back to the country of Moab, and served her as an excuse
for her apostasy; but, on the contrary, it strengthened Ruth's
resolution, and her good affection to Naomi, with whose wisdom and
goodness she was never so charmed as she was upon this occasion;
thus to her it was a savour of life unto life. (1.) Orpah kissed
her mother-in-law, that is, took an affectionate leave of her,
bade her farewell for ever, without any purpose to follow her
hereafter, as he that said he would follow Christ when he had
buried his father or bidden those farewell that were at home.
Orpah's kiss showed she had an affection for Naomi and was loth to
part from her; yet she did not love her well enough to leave her
country for her sake. Thus many have a value and affection for
Christ, and yet come short of salvation by him, because they cannot
find in their hearts to forsake other things for him. They love him
and yet leave him, because they do not love him enough, but love
other things better. Thus the young man that went away from Christ
went away sorrowful, Matt. xix.
22. But, (2.) Ruth clave unto her. Whether, when
she came from home, she was resolved to go forward with her or no
does not appear; perhaps she was before determined what to do, out
of a sincere affection for the God of Israel and to his law, of
which, by the good instructions of Naomi, she had some
knowledge.

6. Naomi persuades Ruth to go back, urging,
as a further inducement, her sister's example (v. 15): Thy sister-in-law has gone
back to her people, and therefore of course gone back to her
gods; for, whatever she might do while she lived with her
mother-in-law, it would be next to impossible for her to show any
respect to the God of Israel when she went to live among the
worshippers of Chemosh. Those that forsake the communion of saints,
and return to the people of Moab, will certainly break off their
communion with God, and embrace the idols of Moab. Now, return
thou after thy sister, that is, "If ever thou wilt return,
return now. This is the greatest trial of thy constancy; stand this
trial, and thou art mine for ever." Such offences as that of
Orpah's revolt must needs come, that those who are perfect and
sincere may be made manifest, as Ruth was upon this occasion.

7. Ruth puts an end to the debate by a most
solemn profession of her immovable resolution never to forsake her,
nor to return to her own country and her old relations again,
v. 16, 17.

(1.) Nothing could be said more fine, more
brave, than this. She seems to have had another spirit, and another
speech, now that her sister had gone, and it is an instance of the
grace of God inclining the soul to the resolute choice of the
better part. Draw me thus, and we will run after
thee. Her mother's dissuasions made her the more resolute; as
when Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve the Lord,
they said it with the more vehemence, Nay, but we will. [1.]
She begs of her mother-in-law to say no more against her going:
"Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after
thee; for all thy entreaties now cannot shake that resolution
which thy instructions formerly have wrought in me, and therefore
let me hear no more of them." Note, It is a great vexation and
uneasiness to those that are resolved for God and religion to be
tempted and solicited to alter their resolution. Those that would
not think of it would not hear of it. Entreat me not. The
margin reads it, Be not against me. Note, We are to reckon
those against us, and really our enemies, that would hinder us in
our way to the heavenly Canaan. Our relations they may be, but they
cannot be our friends, that would dissuade us from and discourage
us in the service of God and the work of religion. [2.] She is very
particular in her resolution to cleave to her and never to forsake
her; and she speaks the language of one resolved for God and
heaven. She is so in love, not with her mother's beauty, or riches,
or gaiety (all these were withered and gone), but with her wisdom,
and virtue, and grace, which remained with her, even in her present
poor and melancholy condition, that she resolves to cleave to her.
First, She will travel with her: Whither thou goest I
will go, though to a country I never saw and in a low and ill
opinion of which I have been trained up; though far from my own
country, yet with thee every road shall be pleasant.
Secondly, She will dwell with her: "Where thou lodgest I
will lodge, though it be in a cottage, nay, though it be no
better a lodging than Jacob had when he had the stones for his
pillow. Where thou settest up thy staff I will set up mine, be it
where it may." Thirdly, She will twist interest with her:
Thy people shall be my people. From Naomi's character she
concludes certainly that the great nation was a wise and an
understanding people. She judges of them all by her good mother,
who, wherever she went, was a credit to her country (as all those
should study to be who profess relation to the better country, that
is, the heavenly), and therefore she will think herself happy if
she may be reckoned one of them. "Thy people shall be mine to
associate with, to be conformable to, and to be concerned for."
Fourthly, She will join in religion with her. Thus she
determined to be hers usque ad aras—to the very altars: "Thy
God shall be my God, and farewell to all the gods of Moab,
which are vanity and a lie. I will adore the God of Israel, the
only living and true God, trust in him alone, serve him, and in
every thing be ruled by him;" this is to take the Lord for our God.
Fifthly, She will gladly die in the same bed: Where thou
diest will I die. She takes it for granted they must both die,
and that in all probability Naomi, as the elder, would die first,
and resolves to continue in the same house, if it might be, till
her days also were fulfilled, intimating likewise a desire to
partake of her happiness in death; she wishes to die in the same
place, in token of her dying after the same manner. "Let me die the
death of righteous Naomi, and let my last end be like hers."
Sixthly, She will desire to be buried in the same grave, and
to lay her bones by hers: There will I be buried, not
desiring to have so much as her dead body carried back to the
country of Moab, in token of any remaining kindness for it; but,
Naomi and she having joined souls, she desires they may mingle
dust, in hopes of rising together, and being together for ever in
the other world. [3.] She backs her resolution to adhere to Naomi
with a solemn oath: The Lord do so to me, and more also
(which was an ancient form of imprecation), if aught but death
part thee and me. An oath for confirmation was an end of this
strife, and would leave a lasting obligation upon her never to
forsake that good way she was now making choice of. First,
It is implied that death would separate between them for a time.
She could promise to die and be buried in the same place, but not
at the same time; it might so happen that she might die first, and
this would part them. Note, Death parts those whom nothing else
will part. A dying hour is a parting hour, and should be so thought
of by us and prepared for. Secondly, It is resolved that
nothing else should part them; not any kindness from her own family
and people, nor any hope of preferment among them, not any
unkindness from Israel, nor the fear of poverty and disgrace among
them. "No, I will never leave thee." Now,

(2.) This is a pattern of a resolute
convert to God and religion. Thus must we be at a point. [1.] We
must take the Lord for our God. "This God is my God for ever and
ever; I have avouched him for mine." [2.] When we take God for
our God we must take his people for our people in all conditions;
though they be a poor despised people, yet, if they be his, they
must be ours. [3.] Having cast in our lot among them, we must be
willing to take our lot with them and to fare as they fare. We must
submit to the same yoke and draw in it faithfully, take up the same
cross and carry it cheerfully, go where God will have us to go,
though it should be into banishment, and lodge where he will have
us to lodge, though it be in a prison, die where he will have us
die, and lay our bones in the graves of the upright, who enter into
peace and rest in their beds, though they be but the graves of
the common people. [4.] We must resolve to continue and
persevere, and herein our adherence to Christ must be closer than
that of Ruth to Naomi. She resolved that nothing but death should
separate them; but we must resolve that death itself shall not
separate us from our duty to Christ, and then we may be sure that
death itself shall not separate us from our happiness in Christ.
[5.] We must bind our souls with a bond never to break these pious
resolutions, and swear unto the Lord that we will cleave to him.
Fast bind, fast find. He that means honestly does not startle at
assurances.

8. Naomi is hereby silenced (v. 18): When she saw that
Ruth was stedfastly minded to go with her (which was the very
thing she aimed at in all that she had said, to make her of a
stedfast mind in going with her), when she saw that she had gained
her point, she was well satisfied, and left off speaking to
her, and you can find
more about that here on
st-takla.org on other commentaries and
dictionary entries. She could desire no more than that solemn protestation
which Ruth had just now made. See the power of resolution, how it
puts temptation to silence. Those that are unresolved, and go in
religious ways without a stedfast mind, tempt the tempter, and
stand like a door half open, which invites a thief; but resolution
shuts and bolts the door, resists the devil, and forces him to
flee.

The Chaldee paraphrase thus relates the
debate between Naomi and Ruth:—Ruth said, Entreat me not to
leave thee, for I will be a proselyte. Naomi said, We
are commanded to keep sabbaths and good days, on which we may not
travel above 2000 cubits—a sabbath-day's journey. Well,
said Ruth, whither thou goest I will go. Naomi said, We
are commanded not to tarry all night with Gentiles. Well, said
Ruth, where thou lodgest I will lodge. Naomi said, We are
commanded to keep 613 precepts. Well, said Ruth, whatever
thy people keep I will keep, for they shall be my people. Naomi
said, We are forbidden to worship any strange god. Well,
said Ruth, thy God shall be my God. Naomi said, We have
four sorts of deaths for malefactors, stoning, burning, strangling,
and slaying with the sword. Well, said Ruth, where thou
diest I will die. We have, said Naomi, houses of sepulchre.
And there, said Ruth, will I be buried.

Naomi's Reception at
Bethlehem. (b. c. 1312.)

19 So they two went until they came to
Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem,
that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is
this Naomi? 20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi,
call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why
then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty
hath afflicted me? 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the
Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the
country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of
barley harvest.

St-Takla.org Image:
Heading back to Bethlehem, the land of Naomi (Ruth 1:19-22)

Naomi and Ruth, after many a weary step
(the fatigue of the journey, we may suppose, being somewhat
relieved by the good instructions Naomi gave to her proselyte and
the good discourse they had together), came at last to Bethlehem.
And they came very seasonably, in the beginning of the
barley-harvest, which was the first of their harvests, that of
wheat following after. Now Naomi's own eyes might convince her of
the truth of what she had heard in the country of Moab, that the
Lord had visited his people in giving them bread, and Ruth
might see this good land in its best state; and now they had
opportunity to provide for winter. Our times are in God's
hand, both the events and the time of them. Notice is here
taken,

I. Of the discomposure of the neighbours
upon this occasion (v.
19): All the city was moved about them. Her old
acquaintance gathered about her, to enquire concerning her state,
and to bid her welcome to Bethlehem again. Or perhaps they were
moved about her, lest she should be a charge to the town,
she looked so bare. By this it appears that she had formerly lived
respectably, else there would not have been so much notice taken of
her. If those that have been in a high and prosperous condition
break, or fall into poverty or disgrace, their fall is the more
remarkable. And they said, Is this Naomi? The women
of the city said it, for the word is feminine. Those with whom she
had formerly been intimate were surprised to see her in this
condition; she was so much broken and altered with her afflictions
that they could scarcely believe their own eyes, nor think that
this was the same person whom they had formerly seen, so fresh, and
fair, and gay: Is this Naomi? So unlike is the rose when it
is withered to what it was when it was blooming. What a poor figure
does Naomi make now, compared with what she made in her prosperity!
If any asked this question in contempt, upbraiding her with her
miseries ("is this she that could not be content to fare as her
neighbours did, but must ramble to a strange country? see what she
has got by it!"), their temper was very base and sordid. Nothing
more barbarous than to triumph over those that are fallen. But we
may suppose that the generality asked it in compassion and
commiseration: "Is this she that lived so plentifully, and kept so
good a house, and was so charitable to the poor? How has the
gold become dim!" Those that had seen the magnificence of the
first temple wept when they saw the meanness of the second; so
these here. Note, Afflictions will make great and surprising
changes in a little time. When we see how sickness and old age
alter people, change their countenance and temper, we may think of
what the Bethlehemites said: "Is this Naomi? One would not
take it to be the same person." God, by his grace, fit us for all
such changes, especially the great change!

II. Of the composure of Naomi's spirit. If
some upbraided her with her poverty, she was not moved against
them, as she would have been if she had been poor and proud; but,
with a great deal of pious patience, bore that and all the other
melancholy effects of her affliction (v. 20, 21): Call me not Naomi,
call me Mara, &c. "Naomi signifies pleasant
or amiable; but all my pleasant things are laid waste; call
me Mara, bitter or bitterness, for I am now a woman
of a sorrowful spirit." Thus does she bring her mind to her
condition, which we all ought to do when our condition is not in
every thing to our mind. Observe,

1. The change of her state, and how it is
described, with a pious regard to the divine providence, and
without any passionate murmurings or complaints. (1.) It was a very
sad and melancholy change. She went out full; so she thought
herself when she had her husband with her and two sons. Much of the
fulness of our comfort in this world arises from agreeable
relations. But she now came home again empty, a widow and
childless, and probably had sold her goods, and of all the effects
she took with her brought home no more than the clothes on her
back. So uncertain is all that which we call fulness in the
creature, 1 Sam. ii. 5. Even
in the fulness of that sufficiency we may be in straits. But there
is a fulness, a spiritual and divine fulness, which we can never be
emptied of, a good part which shall not be taken from those that
have it. (2.) She acknowledges the hand of God, his mighty
hand, in the affliction. "It is the Lord that has brought me
home again empty; it is the Almighty that has afflicted me."
Note, Nothing conduces more to satisfy a gracious soul under an
affliction than the consideration of the hand of God in it. It
is the Lord, 1 Sam. iii.
18; Job i. 21. Especially to consider that he who
afflicts us is Shaddai, the Almighty, with whom it is
folly to contend and to whom it is our duty and interest to submit.
It is that name of God by which he enters into covenant with his
people: I am God Almighty, God All-sufficient, Gen. xvii. 1. He afflicts as a God in
covenant, and his all-sufficiency may be our support and supply
under all our afflictions. He that empties us of the creature knows
how to fill us with himself. (3.) She speaks very feelingly of the
impression which the affliction had made upon her: He has dealt
very bitterly with me. The cup of affliction is a bitter cup,
and even that which afterwards yields the peaceable fruit of
righteousness, yet, for the present, is not joyous, but
grievous, Heb. xii.
11. Job complains, Thou writest bitter things against
me, Job xiii. 26. (4.)
She owns the affliction to come from God as a controversy: The
Lord hath testified against me. Note, When God corrects us he
testifies against us and contends with us (Job x. 17), intimating that he is
displeased with us. Every rod has a voice, the voice of a
witness.

2. The compliance of her spirit with this
change: "Call me not Naomi, for I am no more pleasant,
either to myself or to my friends; but call me Mara, a name
more agreeable to my present state." Many that are debased and
impoverished yet affect to be called by the empty names and titles
of honour they have formerly enjoyed. Naomi did not so. Her
humility regards not a glorious name in a dejected state. If God
deal bitterly with her, she will accommodate herself to the
dispensation, and is willing to be called Mara, bitter.
Note, It well becomes us to have our hearts humbled under humbling
providences. When our condition is brought down our spirits should
be brought down with it. And then our troubles are sanctified to us
when we thus comport with them; for it is not an affliction itself,
but an affliction rightly borne, that does us good. Perdidisti
tot mala, si nondum misera esse didicisti—So many calamities have
been lost upon you if you have not yet learned how to suffer.
Sen. ad Helv. Tribulation works patience.

Other commentaries and
interpretations on the Book of Ruth:1 |
2 |
3 |
4